Hey, what’s up guys!
Ok, let’s do a quick review today: Ad Hominem attack. “Ad hominem” is a Latin phrase that means “to the man”. An Ad Hominem attack is attacking the person’s character or their personal traits or their motives for believing something to try to undermine their argument, rather than actually disproving their argument.
The question to ask yourself to see if an Ad Hominem attack is being committed is this: “Is it really true that this character trait discredits (or even has anything to do with) the argument this person is making?”
If you want to hear more about this fallacy, go back and check out Episode 7
Alright! Today’s fallacy is called Slippery Slope. The Slippery Slope fallacy says that if we take this first step down a certain path, there’s nothing to stop us from taking all the next steps as well. It’s saying that if we allow this one thing to happen, it will set off a chain reaction that will end in catastrophe.
Here’s an example: Parent to their child: “You need to get that Math grade up or you’re going to wind up homeless, living under a bridge!” Or “If you play too many video games, you’re going to wind up unemployed, living in my basement when you’re 45 years old!”
Now…is that true? Does a C in Math really mean that their kid is going to wind up homeless? Of course not! Maybe they had a bad semester, maybe they love writing & music and just aren’t mathematically inclined, but instead will go on to have a great career as a book editor. I don’t know. But to say that this one event of getting low grades in math will lead to homelessness is ridiculous. The truth is, there are lots of complex issues that go into creating a situation where a person is experiencing homelessness, and it’s not a logical thought process to ride this slippery slope to that horrible conclusion. The parent is wanting their child to be studious and take school seriously and they should have just addressed it that way rather than falling down such a dramatic Slippery Slope.
What’s wrong with the thinking here: The Slippery Slope fallacy assumes that a certain chain of events will automatically happen, even when there is little to no evidence that this course of events will actually happen. This argument says that just taking one small step will lead to major and even ridiculous outcomes.
Have you ever read the books from the series written by Laura Numeroff called “If you give a Mouse a Cookie? Or If you Give a Moose a Muffin? These cute, fun children’s books are great examples of slippery slopes.
Another example is this: “If you don’t brush your teeth before bed, all the teeth are going to fall out of your head!” Ok, really? Is that the inevitable progression of not brushing your teeth one night before bed? Are there not lots of other steps along the way that could and most likely would prevent that horrible outcome from happening? Yes, of course there are.
Now, can there be truth to a slippery slope argument? Yes, absolutely! If we look back at history, we can see a pattern of events that have led to horrible outcomes. Just look at Hitler in WW2. There was a series of events that lead to the horror of the Holocaust, and it’s not a fallacy to look at that and learn from it. In fact, we must learn from history. It becomes a fallacy when there’s no evidence to back up the assumption that this one small step will eventually lead to the massive consequences at the end.
Here’s the question to ask yourself to determine if you’re facing a Slippery Slope fallacy: “Is it really true that this outcome is inevitable and is there any proof that this one step will lead to that terrible outcome?” *repeat*
Up next: Texas Sharpshooter
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
